About Juan Luis Blanco
Graphic designer, typeface designer, and calligrapher based in Zumaia (Spain).
I have worked as a freelance graphic designer since 1997, a journey which has led me to specialise in the fascinating world of letterforms. Today, my work bridges the gap between historical research and contemporary digital typography, focusing particularly on multiscript systems and cultural identity.
Education and Specialisation
In 2013, I attained an MA in Typeface Design at the University of Reading, graduating with Distinction. During this period, I developed Amaikha, a comprehensive multiscript font family covering Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic, and Tifinagh scripts. This academic foundation shaped my approach to designing typefaces that respect the specific DNA of diverse writing systems.
A Dual Focus: Global Scripts and Basque Identity
My professional practice at Blancoletters operates across retail type design and custom commissions, structured around two closely related lines of research:
Multiscript Design: I work on the harmonisation of writing systems — particularly Latin, Arabic, and Tifinagh — developing cohesive typographic systems for international brands and editorial contexts. This work focuses on balance, rhythm, and structural dialogue across scripts.
Basque Lettering: Alongside this, I investigate the evolution of Basque graphic heritage. My typefaces Harri and Basati reinterpret traditional stone-carved lettering for contemporary digital use, extending this research through commissioned projects rooted in the same cultural and formal inquiry.
Collective Projects and Conferences
I frequently collaborate on international typographic projects, such as Typographic Matchmaking in the Maghrib, with a double contribution –Qandus and Tubqal–, and the Akaya multiscript font for Google Fonts. Notably, I collaborated with Ashler Design on the development of Google Sans Flex, a pioneering variable typeface designed for the entire Google ecosystem. This project’s technical excellence and adaptive design were recognised with a prestigious Red Dot Award in 2024.
Outside of the studio, I combine my design work with teaching calligraphy and delivering lectures at conferences such as ATypI, Letterform Archive, Face Forward, BBDW, and 7CIT. I maintain a healthy professional balance through rock climbing. In different ways, both climbing and designing letterforms lead me into the same rare state of mind — one shaped by focus, patience, and quiet intensity — where attention sharpens, time softens, and everything else dissolves gently into the distance.
Collective projects
Typographic Matchmaking in the Maghrib. Worked with Kristyan Sarkis, Laura Meseguer in Qandus; and with Andreu Balius and Salah Bellizi in Tubqal, both including Latin, Arabic and Tifinagh scripts.
Akaya multiscript font. A tri-script font (Latin-Kannada-Telugu) developed with Vaishnavi Murty for Google Fonts.
Google Sans Flex. A pioneering variable typeface designed for the entire Google ecosystem. With Ashler Design.
Awards
TDC Certificate of Typographic Excellence 2017 for the multiscript typeface Qandus, a collective project with Kristyan Sarkis and Laura Meseguer.
Silver’20 Laus Prize, by the ADG FAD (The Spanish Association of Graphic Designers), for the multiscript typeface Qandus,
Lectures/talks
IDarte. Public School of Design, Vitoria-Gasteiz, “Euskal grafia. Identitate euskarria”. 2024/11/27
BBDW21 (Bilbao Bizkaia Design Week 2021). “Diseñar tipografía”. Bilbao. 2021/11/22
IDarte. Talk about type design in the Public School of Design, Vitoria-Gasteiz, 2021/04/15 (Basque version)
Letterform Archive. “Basque Lettering: Letters for Self-Assertion” (Online Lecture). 2020/11/17.
2CDG (Second Conference on Graphic Design). “Diseñar un sistema de escritura: alfabeto tifinagh y visibilización de la cultura amazigh”. Bilbao, 2018/06/28.
ATypI 2016: “A Typographic Maghribi Trialogue”. Warsaw, 2016/09/15.
7CIT (7th International Conference of Typography): “Alfabeto tifinagh: diseño tipográfico y supervivencia cultural”. Valencia, 2016/07/01.
Face Forward 2015: “The case of the Tifinagh script: typeface design to the rescue”. Dublin, 2015/12/12.
Typomad 2015: “Amaikha: diseñando una fuente multiscript”. Madrid, 2015/12/04.
University of the Basque Country: “Reading, una singladura tipográfica”. Bilbao, 2015/05/07.
Media/interviews
Berria. «Euskal grafian oinarrituz, bi tipografia sorta egin ditut: ‘Harri’ eta ‘Basati’». Zumaia, 2024/06/12.
Euskadi Irratia. Baipasa: weekly collaboration on typography. San Sebastián, 2020/03…
Vimeo. Interview by Liher Landeta: “Juan Luis Blanco – Grafía vasca“. San Sebastián, 2019/05/13.
Usandizaga Diseño. Entrevista al diseñador de tipografías Juan Luis Blanco. San Sebastián, 2018/11/28.
Euskadi Irratia. Interview in the public Basque Radio. San Sebastián, 2018/09/22.
Diario Vasco. «He diseñado la tipografía vasca ‘Harri’, un proyecto personal recién terminado». San Sebastián, 2017/05/07.
Published articles
“Lettres au Sud-Ouest”. Lettres Baladeuses. Alphabets et autres symboles dans les Landes et le Pays-Basque. Clement Criseo & Malou Verlomme. Éditioins Pimientos/Arteaz, Ciboure (FR). July 2023. Article available online at skritur.eu [Lettres au Sud-Ouest].
“Basque Lettering”. Forum Journal of Letter Exchange, Issue 41. March 2021
“Tifinagh alphabet, an ancient survivor in a modern multiscript environment”. The Palace of Typographic Masonry. Richard Niessen. Spector Books, Leipzig (DE). September 2018.
Exhibitions
50 años, 50 diseñadores Exhibition showcasing a selection of works made by alumni from the Fine Arts Faculty of the University of the Basque Country. Bilbao, 2021/03…
